Murder trial for Kaitlin Armstrong, charged in death of Mo Wilson, to resume Monday

The murder trial of Kaitlin Armstrong will continue Monday with more prosecution witnesses following a week when jurors heard from Armstrong's ex-boyfriend, police and some of her friends.

Armstrong, 35, is charged with murder in the fatal shooting of cycling star 25-year-old Anna Moriah Wilson on May 11, 2022, in East Austin.

Jurors did not hear testimony last Tuesday because the judge had a conflict or on Friday because of the Veteran's Day holiday. The trial began Nov. 1. Monday will be the seventh day of testimony.

Prosecutors aren't commenting on when they will be done because of a gag order in the case, but there are dozens of people left on the witness list. Being on the list does not mean that witness will be called to testify.

Jurors have not heard any testimony yet about Armstrong's escape attempt last month. Officials say she ran away from corrections officers on Oct. 11 after being taken to a medical appointment in South Austin. They said she was captured nearby.

Armstrong has been charged with escape causing bodily injury in the incident. Prosecutor Rickey Jones said in opening statements that jurors will hear about the escape attempt.

The last prosecution witness to testify last week was Austin police forensics specialist, Daniel Portnoy, who analyzed GPS data found in the infotainment center of Armstrong's 2012 Jeep Cherokee. The data showed that at the time Wilson was shot, the Jeep was parked nearby, Portnoy said. It also showed the Jeep left the area a few minutes after the shooting, he said.

‘I would kill her': Witnesses say Kaitlin Armstrong talked about killing Anna Moriah Wilson

Video from a neighbor's surveillance camera shown to jurors recorded the sounds of screams and three gunshots around 9:15 p.m. May 11, 2022. Police have testified they never found any witnesses in the area who heard the gunshots.

Defense attorneys have said videos of a Jeep seen in the area that resembled Armstrong's vehicle did not show the driver and that no one ever saw Armstrong with Wilson. They also have argued that Armstrong's boyfriend, Colin Strickland, said Armstrong arrived at the South Austin home they shared shortly after 9:21 p.m., which would not have given Armstrong enough time to kill Wilson and drive home.

According to the GPS data Portnoy analyzed, however, Armstrong's Jeep arrived near the home she shared with Strickland about 30 minutes after leaving the area where Wilson was killed.

Armstrong fled to Costa Rica after the shooting, where she used several aliases and had plastic surgery, police have testified.

The jury also heard testimony Thursday about bills for plastic surgery on the nose and a browlift for someone named Allison Page, which police have said is one of the aliases that Armstrong used, police have said. They also heard about emails between the plastic surgeon and "Page."

Austin police detective: Kaitlin Armstrong's demeanor was suspicious during interview

According to the emails shown in court, "Page" told the Costa Rican surgeon that she needed plastic surgery quickly, saying on June 22, 2022, that "I believe in the last few days I have aged significantly."

The surgery was done the next day, according to bills displayed in court. When police arrested Armstrong on July 29, 2022, she had a bandage on her nose, they have testified.

Two of Wilson's friends testified last week that Armstrong had been angry at Wilson for dating Strickland and had talked about wanting to kill her.

Wilson, known as Mo, had briefly dated Strickland in October 2021 when Armstrong and Strickland had broken up, Strickland has testified.

More: Kaitlin Armstrong's former boyfriend Colin Strickland testifies in her murder trial

Armstrong and Strickland were living together and dating again in May 2022 when Wilson visited Austin from San Francisco to prepare for a bicycle race. Strickland and Wilson had gone swimming and out to dinner on May 11, 2022, before he dropped her off at the Maple Avenue apartment where Wilson was staying with a friend, Strickland has testified.

He said in court this week that he and Wilson were just professional and platonic friends when they saw each other on May 11. He also said he did not tell Armstrong that day that he had been with Wilson. Strickland is not accused of any wrongdoing in the case.

Armstrong knew Wilson was in town because she repeatedly viewed a phone app called Strava where Wilson showed the route of her bike rides in Austin, police have said.

Armstrong also had access to Strickland's emails and his iPhone passcode because they shared a business together, witnesses have testified.

Evidence in the case showed that Wilson unlocked the apartment where she was staying at 1708 Maple Ave. at 8:36 p.m. after she arrived home from dinner with Strickland.

Portnoy testified Thursday that Armstrong's Jeep, according to GPS data, started driving around the neighborhood where Wilson was staying at 7:42 p.m.

A map was shown in court that displayed the streets the vehicle drove on and the times it was in certain areas, according to the GPS data. The route recorded by the GPS data corresponded with neighbors' videos of a black SUV resembling Armstrong's vehicle traveling in the same area.

The Jeep parked at 8:40 p.m. in a grassy area near an alley in the neighborhood where Wilson was staying, Portnoy said. He said he couldn't identify the exact residential block where the Jeep parked, but he pointed out on a map that the vehicle was parked near the garage apartment that Wilson had unlocked four minutes earlier.

The Jeep left the area at 9:17 p.m., a few minutes after gunshots were heard on a video, Portnoy said. It then traveled north on the frontage road of Interstate 35 before turning around at an underpass at U.S. 290 to drive south on the frontage road, Portnoy said. The Jeep took a right turn on Battle Bend Boulevard in South Austin at 9:37 p.m. and stopped briefly before traveling east and turning onto a side street at 9:42 p.m., he said. It stopped for a few minutes, Portnoy said.

Police testified this week that the side street where the Jeep stopped had two apartment complex dumpsters at the end of it.

The Jeep began traveling again at 9:46 p.m. and parked in the Fort Clark Drive area about a minute later, Portnoy said. Strickland and Armstrong lived in a house on Fort Clark Drive, witnesses have said.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Kaitlin Armstrong murder trial in death of Mo Wilson to resume Monday